Students question authenticity of diverse dining hall food
Some students question the authenticity of dishes from other cultures served in the cafeteria. Qingzi Yang, a first-year student at LAS, argued that the Asian food served in the cafeteria could be improved.
“I think[Asian diner food]is OK most of the time, but it can be better,” Yang said.
Yang is happy that the cafeteria is open to diversity, but has mixed feelings about the food.
“They always end up not being as good because the way they’re made isn’t right,” Yang said.
Emma Hahn, a freshman at LAS, said she liked the diversity effort.
“I think it’s cool that they offer diverse food options,” Hahn said.
Hahn also said the quality of food at the canteen is a gamble, even with the variety of options.
“The food in the canteen is fine. It’s hit or miss,” Hahn said.
Hahn said there are varying opinions on how faithfully the dining hall represents the cuisine of other cultures.
“They are trying to represent foreign food in an authentic way, but ultimately this food is made to be delivered to dining centers and served to large numbers of people,” Hahn said. say.
Despite wanting better home-cooked food, Hahn said he understands the reality of the situation.
“Given the cost that universities are willing to pay for food, the quality will only be very high,” Hahn said.
The processed ingredients in food also make it far from home-made, Hahn explained.
“This food probably contains a lot of processed stuff, which means it takes longer to ship, so it’s unlikely to taste as good as the real home-made one,” says Hahn.
George Sonson, an engineering freshman, expressed dissatisfaction with the dining options in the cafeteria.
“Compared to eating at home, dining room food is a little disappointing, but it wasn’t what I expected,” Thornson said.
Thornson said he feels homesick for home-cooked meals served at home.
“I often miss my mother’s home cooking,” Thornson said.
Thornson expressed how hopeful she felt early in the semester to find out that the cafeteria had a variety of food options.
“At the beginning of the semester, I ate a lot of the Fusion 48 section hoping it would be similar to the Pan-Asian food I’m used to eating at home,” Thornson said.
Thornson said he likes pan-Asian food, but claimed he changed it up a bit after dining on campus.
“As the semester progressed, I found the Fusion 48 section boring, so I started eating at PAR and sometimes switched to Ike. I was there,” Thornson said.
While the dining hall strives to be diverse and authentic, Thornson says the food quality remains poor.
“I didn’t expect the food to be great, but at least I thought the rice was decent, but most of the time I skip serving it myself because it’s substandard,” Thornson expresses. Did.
Thornson recalled one example of substandard food.
“I also remember seeing an ad for a ramen bar in the pond that sold udon noodles. Udon noodles were spaghetti noodles and I didn’t really enjoy the ramen dish,” Thornson said.
Thornson had a similar experience in the ISR canteen.
“Another time, the ISR was serving tteokbokki, a crunchy Korean side dish,” Songsong said. “When I ate it, it was so soft that I could easily cut it with chopsticks.”
Despite his lack of positive experiences, Thornson claimed to enjoy certain dishes.
“One dining room meal that never disappoints is the Stir Fry at Per Sky Garden. I look forward to lunch almost every day,” Thornson said.
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